Indonesia’s U-23 national soccer team head coach Tae Yong Shin is determined to make history.
The team will face Guinea in a one-off match at the Paris Olympics Men’s Soccer Intercontinental Playoffs (PO) in Clairfontaine, France, at 10:00 p.m. EDT on Monday.
According to Indonesian media outlet Bola, before the match, head coach Shin Tae-yong said, “We will not miss the last chance. I thought every game was a final, but now it’s a real final,” he said. “The players are well prepared psychologically. We will use our organizational strength to win,” he added.
One of the 16 men’s soccer teams that will compete at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in July has yet to be selected. The Indonesia- 홀덤사이트 Guinea match will determine the final team.
Indonesia will be looking to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 68 years since the 1956 Games in Melbourne. After finishing fourth at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup 2024, which also served as the final Asian qualifier for the Olympic Games, Indonesia failed to secure a direct ticket to the tournament, which is awarded to the top three finishers. After falling to Uzbekistan in the quarterfinals, Indonesia lost to Iraq in the third-place match. However, they had one last chance to make a comeback in the 0.5-point PO. A win against Guinea and the PO would give them one remaining Olympic ticket.
“We played in 25-30 degree weather in Qatar, but it’s 11 degrees in Paris,” says Bola, “and some of the players were cold at night. Some of the players had colds that kept them awake at night,” he said.
However, Shin Tae-yong is determined to make history, despite the variables. “It’s true that the players are tired. But at the last U-23 Asian Cup, we exceeded expectations with the support of our fans. If we gather our strength this time, we can write a new history,” he said. “In a one-off match, it will be important to see which team has managed their conditioning better. We will prepare to play our best game under the given circumstances.”
The good news is that Guinea’s recent form has been on the decline. They have one draw and three losses in their last four matches. They drew 1-1 with Ghana at the U-23 Nations Cup before losing back-to-back games to Egypt and Mali. They followed that up with a 0-3 friendly loss to the United States in March.
Meanwhile, if Indonesia qualifies, they will be drawn in Group A, which includes France, the United States and New Zealand.